Coronavirus outbreak live updates: Death toll surges past 1,300

Toll update: China reports 254 new deaths and a spike in virus cases to 15,152, after new methodology applied in Hubei province

Passenger onboard SpiceJet's Bangkok-Delhi flight suspected of coronavirus infection, quarantined after landing at Delhi airport: PTI quoting airline

Two more passengers test positive for coronavirus during thermal screening in Kolkata airport

With this, a total of three passengers have tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Kolkata. Read more

Read: Embassy providing all assistance to Indians on board cruise ship off Japan coast, says MEA

Read: Novel coronavirus cannot pass from mother to child late in pregnancy: Lancet Study

China picks new provincial leaders in virus epicenter

Former Shanghai Mayor Ying Yong succeeds Jiang Chaoliang as the ruling Communist Party's chief in the beleaguered province, the Xinhua state news agency reported, while Wang Zhonglin will take over from Ma Guoqiang as the party secretary in Wuhan.

China picks ex-Shanghai mayor to lead in virus epicenter

Ying Yong replaces Jiang Chaoliang as the ruling Communist Party's chief in the beleaguered Hubei province, the Xinhua state news agency reported.

Mobile World Congress 2020 cancelled

Global telecom industry body GSM Association said it has decided to cancel the 2020 edition of the sector's largest event Mobile World Congress due to health safety concerns around novel coronavirus outbreak. The industry body has been organising the event annually since 2006 in Barcelona, Spain, where governments, ministers, policymakers, operators and industry leaders across the broader ecosystem discuss developments in technology sector with telecom as a common thread.

China removes director of Hong Kong and Macau office

China removes top political leader of virus epicentre Hubei province: State media

Two Indians on isolated ship test positive for coronavirus

Two Indian crew members are among the 39 more people who tested positive for coronavirus infection on the Diamond Princess, anchored off Japan for over a week. A Japan health official who had collected forms from those on board the ship also tested positive after he got off the ship. Read more

44 more novel coronavirus cases on Japan ship: Health minister

Another 44 people on board a cruise ship moored off Japan's coast have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the country's health minister said Thursday.

Read: Coronavirus death toll surges as China changes way it counts cases

The development comes just hours after President Xi Jinping touted "positive results" from the government's drastic measures to contain the virus and a top Chinese expert predicted the epidemic would peak this month.

The jump has raised the death toll to 1,355 and the total number of nationwide infections to nearly 60,000.

Hubei, the epicenter of the outbreak, has reported 242 deaths in just one day and 14,840 new patients — by far its biggest one-day tally since the crisis erupted last month.